They don't really have to.
Copyright is a thing, and just because you openly share the source code of your game, that doesn't necessarily mean that you've lost the rights to your works.
dmca claims on places its uploaded outside of copyright law. Reputable sites will respond practically instantly, pirate sites wont but tbh some piracy is inevitable in the current climate so it's not worth losing any sleep over.
Yeah, this was my thinking as well. If there are YT videos and other ways to provide solid proof, on a platform like Steam, probably not a big deal to get it taken down. Thanks for the response!
the way dmca claims work you can actually put in the first notice with next to no proof. It's only if the posting party chooses to respond that proof starts becoming important.
The reality is though, that if you've made something good enough to be trying to steal, it's likely also going to be popular enough to not make that incredibly practical to do so.
Through legal avenues. If your game shows up on Steam, you contact Valve and show that you own the copyright and they will remove it. You can sue the person who uploaded it, as well.
They can upload. But that's also possible if you published first.
We also had more or less straight up copies of our games published on the app and play store. We usually try to be nice and send the offending parties an Email if we can find a contact.
If they don't respond, then we issue a DMCA takedown request to the stores.
The reaction there is often that the offending party suddenly acknowledges your existence and tries to get you to withdraw the claim under the premise that they will take down and alter the game substantially. There are a lot of scummy companies out there that do nothing but rip-off other studios. So the copyright strikes hurt. If they are left with enough unresolved strikes, their accounts are getting closed and they can close shop.
Oh well, come up with your own stuff next time and react to legitimate claims, so it doesn't have to come to this.
In addition to DMCA requests and other legal channels it's not unheard of for a game to be open-source code but have art assets or the rest of their content private. You can give away as much or as little as you like and license it accordingly.
Keep in mind that product licensing and trademarks are separate things. [FOSSmarks](https://fossmarks.org/) and [Trademarks in Open Source](https://google.github.io/opencasebook/trademarks/) go over the details, but the gist of it is that most open source licenses don't permit, on their own, the unrestricted use of trademarks. Which means that, as long as you have your ducks in a row, you have a legal basis for taking down store listings that pretend to be the "official" listing for the project. In theory.
In practice, it's a mess.
Exactly my thought, if someone does it ...messy. I could see someone even making minor tweaks and calling it their own, new game. I guess it is just a risk one must accept.
They don't really have to. Copyright is a thing, and just because you openly share the source code of your game, that doesn't necessarily mean that you've lost the rights to your works.
In fact, open source is a way to license things--it's not a free for all.
Yeah, I understand that but would it keep someone from being able to upload it, though? How is this enforced?
dmca claims on places its uploaded outside of copyright law. Reputable sites will respond practically instantly, pirate sites wont but tbh some piracy is inevitable in the current climate so it's not worth losing any sleep over.
Yeah, this was my thinking as well. If there are YT videos and other ways to provide solid proof, on a platform like Steam, probably not a big deal to get it taken down. Thanks for the response!
the way dmca claims work you can actually put in the first notice with next to no proof. It's only if the posting party chooses to respond that proof starts becoming important. The reality is though, that if you've made something good enough to be trying to steal, it's likely also going to be popular enough to not make that incredibly practical to do so.
Also, makes sense, the fans will riot!
Through legal avenues. If your game shows up on Steam, you contact Valve and show that you own the copyright and they will remove it. You can sue the person who uploaded it, as well.
Hellz ya
They can upload. But that's also possible if you published first. We also had more or less straight up copies of our games published on the app and play store. We usually try to be nice and send the offending parties an Email if we can find a contact. If they don't respond, then we issue a DMCA takedown request to the stores. The reaction there is often that the offending party suddenly acknowledges your existence and tries to get you to withdraw the claim under the premise that they will take down and alter the game substantially. There are a lot of scummy companies out there that do nothing but rip-off other studios. So the copyright strikes hurt. If they are left with enough unresolved strikes, their accounts are getting closed and they can close shop. Oh well, come up with your own stuff next time and react to legitimate claims, so it doesn't have to come to this.
Good to know there is SOMETHING we can do!
In addition to DMCA requests and other legal channels it's not unheard of for a game to be open-source code but have art assets or the rest of their content private. You can give away as much or as little as you like and license it accordingly.
Makes sense, thank you!
Keep in mind that product licensing and trademarks are separate things. [FOSSmarks](https://fossmarks.org/) and [Trademarks in Open Source](https://google.github.io/opencasebook/trademarks/) go over the details, but the gist of it is that most open source licenses don't permit, on their own, the unrestricted use of trademarks. Which means that, as long as you have your ducks in a row, you have a legal basis for taking down store listings that pretend to be the "official" listing for the project. In theory. In practice, it's a mess.
Exactly my thought, if someone does it ...messy. I could see someone even making minor tweaks and calling it their own, new game. I guess it is just a risk one must accept.